The concept of puzzles is hardly a new one. We can see that the origins of this concept can be traced back to the 1700s. As you can presume, there’s a long road from the 1700s to the 2024s. They have evolved from hand-cut wooden educational tools to the ones we have the pleasure to see these days. In case you would like to take a look at how quality jigsaw puzzles, be sure to take a look at artandfablepuzzlecompany.co.uk.
No child hasn’t experienced at least one of these during childhood, right? Every nineties kid knows just how popular they were back then. At the same time, we can see that their popularity didn’t decline after all these years. Not only that they are now used as toys, but they are also using for education in a lot of kindergartens and schools all over the world.
In the last couple of years, a couple of studies have proven that jigsaw puzzles offer a lot of benefits to a child’s brain. At the same time, there are benefits for grown people as well. Therefore, we would like to provide you with a couple of the most important ones. Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of these.
1. Improved Memory
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The first advantage, and probably the most important one is that doing jigsaws can help you expand your memory. Doing these strengthens neural connections between two sides of the brain. When you do that, it increases both thinking procedure and intellectual speed. When you pick a certain part, you will need to find the one that can be connected to it. One of the best things you can expect from doing these is to progress your memory, especially short-term memory. It is done by storing all this information.
2. Mental Exercise
Solving jigsaws is a full-capacity brain workout since it has an effect on both sides of the brain. For those who are not aware, the left side of the brain is the systematic, objective, and rational side. When it comes to the right side, it is in charge of feelings, instinctive thinking, and imagination. The connections between these two sides are where the brain links forms and colors are activated at that moment. When these two sides of the brain are working together, it produces the enhancement of cognitive function. Not only that it can make it surge, but it can also prevent potential deterioration.
3. Spotting the Details
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Completing puzzles frequently causes the person to pay attention to almost insignificant details. Especially when we are talking about the one where pieces are pretty similar. There’s no better exercise you can conduct to train your eyes to spot even the smallest alterations in forms and colors. By spotting all these small details will help people to resolve a puzzle in question. But it needs to be said that this is something that can be easily translated into real life. You will be more careful when there’s a need to spot the small details that are crucial in life sometimes.
4. Enhances Solving Skills
To find a proper way to solve the puzzle you are looking at will usually take a couple of approaches before you find the best one. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense since this is a test that can requires the person to make a mistake and try a new approach before it succeeds. You will also have the chance of learning about the value of trying hypotheses, expressing models, and changing the perspective whenever you are facing a situation that doesn’t come in your favor. As you can presume, you will have a chance to transfer these skills to real-life situations where you will need them even more.
5. Collaboration and Teamwork
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One of the benefits that people don’t think about in most cases is that solving these can have a positive effect on teamwork and collaboration. We can see that there are studies that can prove this to be a fact. One of the most prominent ones was done by Yale University researchers, and it said that coworkers can boost their collaboration and teamwork skills to achieve the best possible work-related results. Not only that, it makes it possible for them to create relationships that can help them in their future collaboration.
6. Improved Productivity
When you are in good mood, it is way easier to focus on work-related tasks. When you can get your focus on the top-notch level, you will see that your productivity will surge. The moment you feel like you are overwhelmed with all the work, be sure to take a break and use that time to solve a puzzle. You can be sure that you will have the chance to reset your brain. We can see that many companies have decided to include some jigsaw puzzles in their workplaces to help their employees to increase their focus. Therefore, don’t be afraid to try it since this is a pretty good method of refreshing your brain.
7. Decreases Stress Levels
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Not only that you will be able to reap numerous benefits that can help you think better, solving puzzles can help you to relax sometimes. When you’re doing these, your brain goes into an alpha state, which is similar to the state your brain is in when you are asleep. Plus, when you managed to decrease your stress levels, there are a couple of benefits that are triggered at the same time, like making more profound connections, boosting self-confidence, enhancing the mood, and lowering heart rate and blood pressure. So, be sure to use it for this reason.
The Bottom Line
Different from many people’s opinions about jigsaw puzzles being a child’s game, we can see that the story is entirely different. There are a lot of different benefits that even a grown-up can reap from solving jigsaw puzzles. Here, we’ve provided you with the most important ones. You will see that doing these can be of much help to your everyday life since many of these benefits can be directly translated to your everyday activities.
